I've mostly been a low-level elite on United for the past seven years (I was 1K one year). Almost all of my travel has been personal. I think the erosion of FF benefits gets more pronounced the lower down the totem pole you go. The UA/CO merger made things a lot worse for me. Losing the right to reserve Economy Plus seats at the time of reservation without paying an extra fee was a big negative for me, but I couldn't find a better alternative. The minimum spend also annoys me, though it's not a big deal at the lowest level ($2500 a year for UA? Not difficult if you fly overseas twice).

Increasingly, the best perks -- the perks that drew me to the program in the first place -- are withheld for the top tier(s). I completely understand this as a business decision, but as a passenger, it irks me. Airlines no longer seem to value loyalty below 50,000 miles a year (or more, in some cases). I'm hoping to land a job with lots of travel when I graduate this summer, but for now, I'm stuck with whatever I can get.

I will close with a "Mean Girls" quote that seems very apt: "She knew it was better to be in the Plastics, hating life, than to not be in at all." Yep, I'm the Gretchen Wieners of the FF world.